Uncivil war brewing among Boone County GOP

Tea party flexes muscle as most candidates see opposition

Fox News Channel political and senior judicial analyst Andrew P. Napolitano (second from left) was the featured speaker at the annual Republican Party Holiday Dinner Nov. 21. at Receptions Banquet Center in Erlanger. With Napolitano are, left to right, Boone County Republican Party Chair Rick Brueggemann, Boone County Clerk Kenny Brown and U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Vanceburg. Republicans dominate Boone County government, but divisiveness within the party has prompted a large number of candidates to file for the May 2014 primary election.

It would seem that, in a county where every major elected official is a Republican and there are no term limits, the primary could be pretty boring.

That's not the case in Boone County - and not because Democrats have suddenly decided to challenge the Republican dominance.

The strife is internal, as tea party loyalists have begun to exert more control within the Boone County Republican Party and are fielding candidates that could shift the balance of power in the county.

In the March 2014 primary, Judge-executive Gary Moore has drawn a challenge from County Commissioner Matt Dedden and Republican Party Vice-chair Phyllis Sparks will challenge Commissioner Charlie Kenner.

With nearly six months until the primary, at least four Republican candidates are seeking Dedden's District 1 county commission seat, which he will vacate to run against Moore.

Only County Commissioner Charlie Walton has yet to draw a primary opponent, but that may be because he has strong support among the tea party loyalists that have become increasingly influential in the county. Dedden and Sparks also enjoy strong tea party support.

GOP leaders say rift is not a bad thing

Boone County Republican Party Chair Rick Brueggemann said having a lot of candidates in the primary is not a bad thing.

"There are times when it can be a distraction, but that's something you have to deal with," Brueggemann said. "There are factions in the party, and I think that's because Boone County is so strongly Republican, (and) by necessity it draws the competition into the primary.

"If folks aren't called into account after they've been in office, they have less incentive to keep campaign promises to stick to constitutional oaths and principles," he said.

The rift in the Republican Party began to develop in Boone County in 2008, when strong opposition arose over a parks tax that was soundly defeated by voters.

The subsequent birth of the tea party movement, which now includes two separate groups in Boone County, provided an opportunity for the more conservative Republicans in the county to unify.

In 2010, Dedden, a local contractor with no political experience at that time, defeated Steve Smith in the primary and was unopposed in the general election. Smith, a well-financed candidate with strong backing among moderate Republicans, could not overcome the groundswell of support for Dedden led by tea party loyalists.

That same year, Cathy Flaig, then a county commissioner and one of the founders of the Northern Kentucky Tea Party, came within 74 votes of defeating Moore in the Republican Judge-executive primary.

Tea party flexes its political muscle

The tea party also demonstrated in 2010 that its backing could have an impact beyond local races as now U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Bowling Green, surged to victory with a base of tea party support.

Two years later, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Vanceburg, used strong tea party backing to beat six other Republicans, including Moore, for the nomination to replace U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis.

Massie, then a Lewis County judge-executive, even captured Moore's home county in the primary, then coasted to victory in the November general election.

A straw poll at the 2013 Boone County Holiday Party on Nov. 21 saw Matt Bevin, the latest tea party darling seeking the Republican nomination in 2014, outpoint U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell 365 to 58.

While Bevin faces an uphill battle, the vote was another example of the power of the tea party in Boone County.

In 2012, a shift of power in the GOP leadership

In March 2012, the tea party strengthened its grip on the Boone County GOP by sweeping the party elections, with Brueggemann and Sparks taking the top two offices.

Brueggemann stopped short of calling it a party takeover, but he acknowledged the balance of power did shift at that time.

"When a lot of like-minded people ended up in positions last year, I recognized that and I want to make sure that all factions, even if they are in a minority, are adequately heard," Brueggemann said. "The tendency, a lot of times, is for the defense to be suppressed because it is seen as internal division, but you have to develop that if you want the process to stay free."

To that end, Brueggemann said the party will continue its policy of not endorsing in primaries, so as not to give an edge to candidates.

One need look no further than primaries, however, to identify the divisions within the party and recognize what may be an opportunity to turn party dominance into county leadership.

A fiscal court with Dedden as judge-executive and Sparks, Walton and Flaig, who is seeking to return to her old District 1 seat, as county commissioners, would give that body a strong tea party majority.

It's clear, however, that Judge-executive Moore is not just going to surrender the seat he has held since 1999 without a fight. He filed papers on Nov. 6, the first day candidates could formally enter the primary, and has already raised more than $66,000.

"I wanted to make a strong statement that I'm in this race and I'm in it to win it," Moore said. "I think it's very clear that I'm serious and that I'm off to an aggressive start and plan to keep that pressure on."

Dedden has also filed, but has raised just $6,000, of which $4,000 was contributed by the candidate himself.

"I don't think this race is going to be decided by how much money we spend," Dedden said. "If it gets to that point, I will put the money up myself if I have to, to level the playing field."

That strategy almost worked with Flaig, who spent $40,000 of her own money in 2010, but fell a few votes short of defeating Moore.

Battle lines are drawn for next election

For his part, Moore is not ready to ordain Dedden as the tea party's preferred candidate.

"I challenge that because Matt has not regularly attended tea party meetings," Moore said. "I have been to many more tea party meetings than Matt, and. if you look at our records, I would challenge that I have a more conservative record. In terms of the party factions, some of my friends are in one group and some of my friends are in the other group, and I'm with my friends."

Dedden said tea party supporters know which candidate shares their goals.

"The tea party beliefs are 100 percent in line with my beliefs," Dedden said. "Six or eight years ago, some of these people would never have dreamed of getting into a political role, just because they did not travel in political circles. Now people are starting to realize that we've got to be willing to do the right thing and we see these everyday people, and I'm one of them, stepping up, and it's working."

At a candidate forum hosted by the Grassroots Tea Party in August, Dedden seemed to have more supporters in the room than Moore. He did, however, rankle some tea partiers with the statement that he didn't think "Commissioner Flaig knew what she was voting for," while she was on the fiscal court.

Flaig, whose campaign against Moore in 2010 was very contentious, has been surprisingly low-key this time around.

Sparks, however, came out firing against Kenner, who has strongly supported Moore on county issues for more than a decade on the fiscal court.

She questioned Kenner's decision to collect his county commissioner salary while deployed in Kuwait as a member of the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Corps. Her comments prompted a terse response from former U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis, also a Republican.

"Mrs. Sparks' self-serving rhetoric is a dishonor to all who serve," Davis, a former U.S. Army Ranger said in a letter to The Enquirer. "Ironically, Mrs. Sparks can rest easy knowing that part of Commissioner Kenner's military service is to preserve her right to free speech so she can continue spewing misinformation and gossip."

If there is solace for Boone County Republicans in this sometimes uncivil war, it is in the knowledge that Democrats appear prepared once again to concede to the dominant party.

"I've not seen to date in Boone County where it has weakened the Republican candidate that comes out of the primary to the point where they would be weakened in a general election," Moore said.

So far, however, no Democrats have filed for county offices in the 2014 primary and there don't appear to be a lot of viable candidates out there.

In 2010, Moore did face opposition from independent candidate and former Judge-executive Terry Roberts, who was encouraged to run (and privately supported behind the scenes) by some disgruntled Republicans.

Moore easily won the general election, but a clear message was sent that party affiliation did not guarantee unwavering support.⬛

ADVERTISEMENT

Most Popular

Most Commented

More Headlines

Most Viewed

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Uncivil war brewing among Boone County GOP

It would seem that, in a county where every major elected official is a Republican and there are no term limits, the primary could be pretty boring.